Musashi
Musashi is a major character featured in Mobile Suit Gundam Y. Personality A self-proclaimed sociopath, he is a prodigious mobile suit pilot and overall combatant from the colony Hindenburg. He tends to show a limited degree for distaste for his superior officers, but is otherwise always respectful to those he meets, be they his allies or his enemies. Carrying himself with an air of confidence, Musashi seems to enjoy testing others' reactions to various things, but he can be quite oblivious to the adverse effects of some of his actions, which perhaps fuels his idea of his 'sociopathy'. Musashi also possesses a lax attitude around weapons and volatile equipment as well, which is often exhibited by the handling of his personal-issued pistol. He also seems to hold an attachment (perhaps to obsessive levels) to the weapon, as he was especially insistent that the Canaveral forces that had apprehended him afterwards the first battle against the Paramount Fleet to keep it with care, and is seen on regular occasions to be cleaning and maintaining it. Before leaving to meet with the Paramount Fleet personnel, Musashi gives the pistol and its holster to Jesse Weston, though he left her afterwards without another word, greatly confusing and worrying her. After news of Musashi's death reaches Geospace, Jesse is later seen mourning in her room, the pistol lying close. Before becoming a pilot for the Yesterday Gundam, he piloted the limited-production mobile suit X-77-X Agareph (which he returned to one last time to duel Aldrich during his emotionally-unstable phase later in the series), and his unit in particular is painted with the numbers '3' and '9' on the shoulders. It is from here that he reveals a somewhat joking personality to Jesse. He claims the numbers come together to sound "San-Kyuu" (39 in Japanese), which sounds like the English phrase "thank you", which he says is "what he likes to tell the people whom he fights". Despite showing a lack of restraint towards killing enemy pilots, Musashi proves to be loyal to those that he stands by, such as the crew of the Golden Child (and later Geospace), whom refused to abandon him the first time they escaped from the Canaveral Os. colony. In the end, Musashi sacrifices himself so that information regarding the Paramount Fleet is leaked to Geospace, which included the research notes and data that would contribute greatly to the development of the next Gundam type; GMVT-04X Gundam Towards. He has shown a fondness for cats. Skills & Abilities Highly intelligent and with a sharp cunning, his reflexes were stated to be levels above Aldrich Reno's during their first meeting. In fact, his skill proved a contributing factor that allowed for many of the Gundam Yesterday's subsequent victories against enemy forces. Aldrich himself admitted that had anybody else been the pilot of the Gundam Yesterday, their battles would have been much more difficult. Musashi is also skilled in CQC, as well as in the handling of smaller firearms. He stated an aversion towards larger, heavier types of firearms, such as the assault rifle, in a conversation with Aldrich. History Background He claims that he is a man who has lost his memories, but this may not be the exact truth. The true nature of his past remains a mystery even after his death. What appears to be snippets of his past are shown at the end of some of the episodes in the series. It is believed he was raised by more than one mother. First contact Musashi had been a part of the squadron assigned to escorting the research team sent by Geospace into the Jovian sphere, where they would retrieve the mobile craft XZF-04 Youngswallow (which had been infested with a colony of a space microorganism) for intensive study. When the ship comes across a potential attack by a rival colony's mobile suit team (Canaveral's 87th squad) on a supply convoy, Musashi heads out along with his squad, effectively destroying the enemy forces (save for a survivor; Aldrich Reno). After drifting in space for close to a week, he is found hibernating (to reduce oxygen usage) inside his damaged mobile suit by the mobile forces from the Canaveral Os. colony. Taken in by the medical wing, he is kept under monitoring by Canaveral's military. When the Paramount Fleet arrived in the vicinity of Canaveral Os. and attacked the colony, Musashi broke free from his bonds and hijacked the experimental mobile suit XS-YUNINN-02 to fight back. He meets up with Aldrich in his own XZF-04 Youngswallow, and they discover that the two units can combine into a single mobile suit - the Gundam Yesterday. Escape attempt The Child passing by Reunion with Ceres May Escalating conflict Establishing grounds Voyage to Earth Pursued Recruitment into the Coalition Battle of Clavius Method to madness Caught by a single bullet, Musashi is afterwards gunned down by the Paramount Fleet's combat personnel, staying his ground in the terminal room until his last breath. His body is later seen being taken out of the room, as Yeager Gage finds out that he's managed to transmit data on the fleet back to Geospace before his death. Legacy The data sent by Musashi to Geospace allows their forces to gain an intelligence advantage on the Paramout Fleet's methods. Part of the data greatly contributes to the completion of the GMVT-04X Gundam Towards, the next Gundam unit, built from the damaged remains of the GMVT-03 Gundam Tomorrow. The Gundam Towards is successfully completed months later, just in time for Aldrich to return from retirement due to his injuries months earlier in the Battle of Clavius. Aldrich, as well as Jesse in Musashi's place, piloting the Gundam Towards would prove crucial in the battles against Geospace from this point onwards, and ultimately leads to Geospace's victory at the end of the confrontation. Relationships Aldrich Reno Aldrich first encountered Musashi, though unknowingly, when Musashi in the Agareph protected him and Ceres May in the XZF-04 Youngswallow from being attacked by the Paramount Fleet's mobile suits in the first episode. Though they were often at odds, the two grew to become great friends as the series progressed. Even then, their tendency to exchange banter back and forth and butt heads made Ceres May compare them to a pair of brothers. Aldrich trusted him completely, which caused a positive impact on Musashi's personality. When Aldrich confessed his fears of dying alone in space to Musashi, the latter replied that such a thing won't happen, reassuring Aldrich that they would, in all likelihood, die fighting together in the Gundam Yesterday (something Musashi went on to state he did not mind). Before his death, Musashi uttered a final farewell to the people he's grown fond of aboard the Golden Child and in Geospace. He finishes by calling Aldrich "the greatest friend any wanderer could have asked for". Ceres May They first met during the briefing for the Hindenburg pilot's role in securing the safety of the convoy, which the research team from Earth was a part of. Despite a strange first impression from Musashi, she was quick to warm up to him. She is grateful to him, for continuing to protect her and Aldrich's life after the Paramount Fleet's first attack, even (at the time) seemingly at the cost of his own life. After this, Ceres considers Musashi a good, if a bit eccentric friend, and they often meet everyday to talk, although Ceres often is too busy with her own research to meet with him and the rest. Jesse Weston Jesse was at first wary of the former enemy pilot, but her trust in Musashi grew greatly as they continued to fight side-by-side. As time grew, the two became friends, and the trio of Aldrich, Jesse, and Musashi became a tightly-knit group aboard the Golden Child, living and fighting together. Jesse later comes to hold feelings for him, though any reciprocation was never made apparent. Kristoph Pietz Sommerly Raune Trivia *Musashi has on a few occasions likened himself to a "vagabond through the stars". Category:Gestalt Century Category:Mobile Suit Gundam Y Category:Katzenbach Category:Characters